Tuesday Top Seller: Outkast Sports, Vernon New Jersey

kailee bradstreet

• March 24 2009
• 578 views
• 9 comments

Outkast Sports
246 Route 94, Vernon NJ
outkastsports.com
Co-Owner: Steven Wanczowski

Located slightly off the beaten path in northwest New Jersey, Outkast Sports draws a good portion of its business from tourists traveling from New York and the Jersey suburbs to the nearby Mountain Creek Resort, according to co-owner Steven Wanczowski. But Outkast also has its fair share of local rippers who frequent the shop looking for the latest snow gear and the occasional skateboard, explains Wanczowski. The 2,000-square foot space, which is actually a bi-level house converted into a shop, sells snow and skate hardgoods, as well as apparel. Opening its doors in August 2007, Wanczowski and co-owner Kevin Whitehead have been steadily working to increase the shop’s presence through both brick and mortar and online sales. While the percentage of store space dedicated to skate apparel and hardgoods is considerably smaller, Outkast has plans to expand and has formed a non-profit organization aimed at raising money to build a local skate park, Wanczowski says. Here’s what’s selling at Outkast Sports:

BEST SELLING CATEGORIES

1. Bindings
“Boards are slower, the boots seemed a little slow, but bindings did awesome,” Wanczowski says. “I just think with the economy the way it is right now, a lot of people can put off the new snowboard, but you can’t ride a broken pair of bindings.”

Best Selling Brand: Burton
“Burton bindings are flying off the shelf - we’ve had really good sell through with their bindings the last few months.”

Best Selling SKU: Cartel/Mission
Outkast has managed to sell through almost its entire stock of bindings, but Burton’s Mission and Cartell bindings disappeared the fastest, according to Wanczowski.

2. Outerwear
“I’d definitely say at least a quarter of the shop is dedicated to outerwear,” Wanczowski says. “We carry Volcom, DC, Burton, Special Blend and Grenade, and I think all of them did pretty well this year.”

Best Selling Brand: Grenade
“Volcom kind of sticks out in my mind as doing really well, but grenade also did really well - we had a lot of grenade outerwear this year.”

Best Selling SKU: Fiend Pant
The Fiend Pant is a top performer at the shop right now, according to Wanczowski.

3. Accessories

“People are out there to look the look, so accessories are doing really well,” Wanczowski says, mentioning that beanies are selling well, as well as Skullcandy headphones.

Best Selling Brand:N/A
Although most brands do well in this category, the standouts have been those with the Waldo style hats, such as Grenade, Special Blend, Neff, and Burton, according to Wanczowski.

Best Selling SKU: Waldo-Style Striped Beanies
“We got some requests for these starting in September and into October,” he says. “I think some it may of had to do with Halloween.”